ixpopoyotl (MH546v)

ixpopoyotl (MH546v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for a blind person (ixpopoyotl) shows the head of a man in profile, looking toward the viewer's right. He has a standard haircut. It is difficult to tell if his visible eye is open or closed, but two black horizontal bands run across his face, one over his eye (ixtli) and nose and another one above that. These lines are indicating a loss of sight, a disability. The contextualizing image shows another indicator of blindness in the form of a hand-held staff or cane that was rounded at the top and the bottom.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The gloss refers to "blind people" (ixpopoyome). This glyph is just one blind person out of at least two. It is sad to think that there were at least two blind people in one small community. One wonders if the epidemics that ravaged early Mexico left people blinded. One cause of blindness is trachoma. Mexico eliminated this disease in recent years, according to the Pan American Health Organization. (See: https://www3.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13...)

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

yzcate yxpopoyome

Gloss Normalization: 

iz cate ixpopoyome

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Gender (male)
Health, Medicine
Sensory Perception
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
profile view
linear or multiple straight lines
horizontal
facing right
Keywords: 

ciegos, ceguera, falta de vista

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

ixpopoyo(tl), blindness, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ixpopoyotl
popoyo(tl), a blind person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/popoyotl
ixcocoxqui, someone who is blind, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ixcocoxqui
iz, here, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/iz
cate, are, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cate

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

un ciego

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 546v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=172&st=image.

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

ixpopoyotl (MH546v)

popoyotl (MH608r)